WATERTOWN – Watertown High hasn’t always been the easiest place to win on the basketball court.
The Warriors boys have always had to contend with the high-flying Waterbury city teams, not to mention Naugatuck and Torrington, among others, while the girls are in a league top-heavy with powerhouses such as Holy Cross, St. Paul, Seymour … and the list goes on.
First-year boys coach Gary Robinson and new girls coach Emmett O’Connor know what they’re up against. Their hard hats are strapped on as they aim to build a culture of winning on French Street.
Robinson, 35, learned how to coach from one of the Naugatuck Valley League’s wiliest hoop wizards. He was a junior center on Tony Turina’s 2006 state championship team at Torrington.
Robinson went on to Western Connecticut, where the 6-foot-6 forward still ranks 10th all-time in rebounds and blocks for the Colonials and played on two NCAA Tournament squads.
After graduation, he spent one year as an assistant to Eric Gamari at his alma mater before earning his MBA and landing a job with the American Athletic Conference.
In 2018, Robinson returned home, went to work at the EdAdvance regional education center in Litchfield and became Gamari’s JV coach at Torrington.
This past off-season, he noticed the opening at Watertown, which intrigued him.
“I wanted to see if I could take all the knowledge from my playing days and all the tutelage from all my coaches and give this a shot,” Robinson explained.
The Watertown boys went 6-14 a year ago and 2-18 the year before. The Warriors haven’t had a winning season since 15-9 in 2013, a year after they reached the Class M state final.
“A lot of what I’m trying to instill now is the framework I learned as a player and as a coach as far as shaping practices. We’re scripting everything, including water breaks,” Robinson said. “We look at what are we focused on. Not necessarily on are we scoring, but are we moving the ball the right way? Are we doing things the right way? Are the players gelling?”
The Warriors opened with a loss to Wilby, but bounced back for their first win, 57-54 over Kennedy, last week. Chris O’Toole led the way with 28 points.
“The guys came in eager to go from the beginning. I’m new, so you have to earn their trust,” Robinson said. “From the get-go, they’ve been ready to go, prompt, ready to learn and eager to get better, especially the seniors.”
O’Connor, 54, played football at Sacred Heart High, but didn’t try out for basketball due to a C-grade that didn’t measure up to the high standards of his father, a principal. Ironically, the subpar grade was in social studies, a subject he has taught for 26 years at Watertown.
He coached girls soccer for the Warriors for four years, the last two as head coach in 2002 and ’03, before stepping aside following the births of his son and daughter.
For years, O’Connor coached youth teams in several sports that his kids played on. With both of them now in college, he was interested when the basketball vacancy at Watertown opened.
“The opportunity arose. I didn’t want to take anybody’s job, but there was nobody lined up to take it,” he said.
The Warriors went 13-10 a year ago, but the roster was so thin that Watertown didn’t play a JV schedule. With 17 girls out this year, the Warriors will be able to field a junior varsity team again.
“But there are no juniors and only two sophomores. It’s a team of seniors and freshmen,” O’Connor said.
“I hope to bring the team back to being a true program where you have kids developing from a younger age and contributing and having fun,” he continued. “When you’re having fun, the wins will come.”
Watertown has had its moments in the past, winning the Iron Division in 2017 and 2016.
The Warriors are 1-1 after an opening loss to Holy Cross and a victory over Torrington last weekend. Ari Velez, who could reach 1,000 career points this season, had 22 points in the 47-42 win.
O’Connor is assisted by newcomers Rick Genua and Ryan Smith, as well as Brian Stanley, a 20-year veteran assistant.
“Gettng to states would be one goal, but I do feel this year is a learning year,” he said. “We need to improve every week. Watertown has done well in the past. We used to be one of the top teams.”
